Daily Dialogue 日常会话

Tomb Sweeping Day

Tim： Why are those people crying?

Maria： They must have just come back from the tomb sweeping .

Tim： Oh，yes，it's Tomb Sweeping Day，a day for remembering family members.

Maria： It's the day of sacrifice ．In ancient times，the generations held a memorial ceremony for their forebear ．They prepared some hell notes and chrysanthemum ．Nowadays，online tomb weeping became more and more popular．Do you know the story about the tomb sweeping?

Tim： Yeah，the story about Jie Zitui．In memory of Jie，every year on that day people mourned for him and ate cold meals the day before．Later the custom of inserting willow branches on gates was also added.

Maria： Yeah，this reminds me of a poem by Du Mu：In the Rainy Season of Spring.

Tim： I know which you are talking about:“It drizzles endlessly during the rainy season in spring；Travelers along the road look gloomy and miserable”.

Maria： Perfect，Tim！You have become Sinologue．Do you understand its meaning?

Tim： It described the scene of the tomb sweeping.

清明节

提姆： 那些人怎么都哭了？

玛利亚： 他们准是刚上完坟回来。

提姆： 哦，对，今天是清明节，怀念亲人的日子。

玛利亚： 是呀，正是祭祀节日。古时候，后代都要祭祖的仪式。还要准备纸钱和菊花。现在，网上祭扫变得越来越流行了。你知道清明节的来历吗？

提姆： 知道，关于介子推的故事。之后为了纪念他，前一天吃冷食。之后就有了门旁插柳的习俗。

玛利亚： 这让我想起了杜牧的那首诗《清明》。

提姆： 我知道你说的是哪首，是“清明时节雨纷纷，路上行人欲断魂”。

玛利亚： 太棒了！你都成中国通了。你知道意思吗？

提姆： 是描述扫墓的情景。